Brenda Parker, Anne D. McCullogh and Negin Armioun had an exchange meeting with technical personnel from the Community Care Service of the Consortium of Social Action of la Garrotxa. An interesting conversation on how to achieve and make real the participation of citizens in order to improve the social development of specific territories. We saw a special focus on ways of involving those people who are usually excluded from these processes and, from a social point of view, those who do not usually participate.

The importance of doing it from a close look, respecting the times that these processes need, being honest, making small projects and not big urban development changes and making citizens live projects like ours were the main conclusions or statements that we shared at the meeting. One of the basic points is that the key to this participation is a sense of community, a feeling of belonging to the same group among the neighbours of a given area; however, it is difficult to be able to involve in common projects.

The three residents work in different areas and from different strategies and perspectives (theater of the oppressed, feminism, experiential…) but to know very well the territory, the people who live and the dynamics that are given were three common and essential factors in the three projects and stories.